Tuesday, November 1, 2016

November 1, 2016 (The Gardian) Two
years after angry Ukrainians deposed Viktor Yanukovych and broke into his vast,
opulent residential compound outside Kiev, revelations thrown up by a new
system that requires government officials to declare their wealth and property
online have led many to suspect the new elite are no better. The declarations,
which all officials were required to file by Sunday evening, have made public
many curiosities, including politicians who own multiple luxury watches, Fabergé
eggs and large collections of weapons. One politician declared that he owned a
personal church. By far the biggest shock, however, has been just how much
money Ukraine’s politicians seem to stash away in hard cash.

The Ukrainian prime minister,
Volodymyr Groysman.

Photograph: Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images

The prime minister, Volodymyr
Groysman, declared $1.2m (£980,000) and €460,000 (£410,000)in cash, as well as
a collection of luxury watches. Many other officials declared hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of cash. “Everyone is amazed that there is so much
cash in our country,” said Kristina Berdynskykh, an investigative journalist
who has written extensively on corruption among the elite. Mikhail Dobkin, an
opposition MP, declared 1,780 bottles of wine, while Roman Nasirov, the head of
the state fiscal service, declared that together, he and his wife owned Swiss
watches, diamonds, fur coats and held more than $2m in cash. Observers have
pointed out that when the head of the national bank keeps his savings in
dollars, it can hardly fill the population with confidence about the prospects
for the hryvnia, Ukraine’s national currency. Other curiosities found among the
declarations included a Nazi SS dagger and medieval religious icons. Anatoly
Matviyenko, the deputy leader of the presidential faction in parliament,
declared ownership of a church.